My thoughts about what should (and should not be) in a glossary for a spec

[Kristen James Eberlein <kris@eberleinconsulting.com>]

What should be in a spec glossary

• Terms for general concepts that are unique to DITA. For example: short description, relationship table, ...
• SITA-specific terms that need to be defined precisely, concisely, and used consistently. For example: vocabulary module, document-type shell, domain ...
• XML terms that DITA spec readers must understand. For example: attribute type, element type, ...
• Industry-standard terms that have a specific meaning in the DITA universe (if any exist)
  

What should not be in a spec glossary

• Names of DITA attribute or elements
• Names of attribute groups (used as entities in DTD shells, not sure what the correct way to describe them in RNG)
• Names of element groups (used as grouping categories in the element reference)
• Industry standard terms with standard meanings
• Terms that are used only once or twice in the spec

Thoughts from others?

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Best,
Kris

Kristen James Eberlein
Chair, OASIS DITA Technical Committee
OASIS Distinguished Contributor
Principal consultant, Eberlein Consulting LLC
www.eberleinconsulting.com
+1 919 622-1501; kriseberlein (skype)